ChaLEAN Extreme! I get the questioned a lot about what program might be best for a wife or girlfriend. Many the ladies in our lives just don’t want to do the same program we are doing. P90X just isn’t their thing. So what do I recommend ChaLEAN Extreme … it’s not a brand new workout program, so it isn’t as hyped or popular as Turbo Fire, P90X, Insanity, and Les Mills Pump. But it is an awesome program!

How we got ChaLEAN Extreme

For me, it went something like this. Anita had done P90X and Insanity with me, and she can hang! But honestly she just doesn’t have a life-long desire to keep pushing herself that hard. She doesn’t want to workout an hour a day, 6 days a week. And that is perfectly okay. No one can fault her for that at all. I on the other hand can’t get enough of the intensity! As I studied the options that might appeal to her, I came across Chalean Extreme. The workouts are shorter (in the half hour to 45 minute range vs. the full hour of P90X). Plus, it has both resistance and cardio, like P90X, which I feel make a great long-term fitness option. I think too many women gravitate to cardio-only programs, and that undermines their fitness efforts because they need to sculpt and tone muscles to get the results they want — not just burn calories. So I figured I’d get it for her and see how she liked it.

I have to say I am very impressed with the program. From the moment I opened the box I was pleasantly surprised. The packaging shows how much went into developing this workout program. It’s not just some DVD’s in a sleeve. It’s a complete, well engineered holder for the DVD’s, a complete nutrition guide, and a workout guide that not only has the blanks for filling out reps/weight, but actually has pictures of each exercise showing the correct form to use. And it has a workout calendar, body fat calipers, and a resistance band. Again, it’s got it all and it’s very well put together. What’s more, on the intro DVD Chalene actually takes you through her kitchen showing you food prep, and she has her husband demo all kinds of the exercises with correct form and discusses the most common mistakes in form. Very educational.

Even after owning C.E. for about 2 years now, Anita still loves it. It’s like a shorter, slightly less intense version of P90X. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still pretty intense. You’ll be sweating and breathing hard, even if you are a seasoned P90X and Insanity guy/gal! It’s just a little less intense, and shorter. In fact of all the women I know that have used ChaLEAN Extreme, LOVE IT and have got great results. I’ve never heard a complaint.

It uses weights 3 days per week like P90X, but the moves are more compound, with lighter weights (usually 5′s, 10′s, and 15′s). There are even TEMPO lifts where you control the concentric and eccentric parts of the lift over a specific second count (go heavy and these are BRUTAL!). There are no pullups (praise the LORD according to Anita LOL!). And there are also 2 cardio days and 2 ab routines that you rotate. So in all you are working out 5 times per week (3 lift days, 2 cardio days with abs afterward, 2 rest days), for about 30-40 minutes each time. This is right up Anita’s alley. She could see herself doing a program like this long term. She’s done nearly every workout program in the Beachbody lineup, but she keeps going back to her favorite — Chalean Extreme. So don’t overlook this program for the ladies in your life.

I’m going to keep pushing myself with P90X, X2, Insanity, the Asylum, Body Beast, and whatever they throw at me! But some people may prefer something less intense or less intimidating. This might be what they are looking for. Or maybe you are a guy who is loving your P90X and wanting to get your wife going with a workout too, and she won’t jump into P90X for fear that it’s more than she can handle.

What Turbo Fire is to Insanity, ChaLEAN Extreme is to P90X. It is really my favorite recommendation for women that don’t want to go with P90X. You can check ChaLEAN Extreme out even more under thePROGRAMS tab in the top menu.

It is literally the best program I have used...and I've done turbo fire and Insanity. Your article was great because it encompassed everything Chalean Extreme does. What I love about her is that you gain so much additional knowledge just by listening to her, not only when she is talking about a specific exercise...its tips you can incorporate into your daily life. Great job Coach!!!

My wife loves Chalean Extreme too! You know that point doesn't get highlighted enough, Chalean Extreme did a great job of teaching my wife so many useful things that changed her perspective on her fitness goals and building lean muscle. It's a great program physically and will teach you a lot. Just by listening in on her workouts and CDs I learned a lot from Chalene Johnson and use that knowledge to help the women on my team.

Those are the same reasons why I recommended Chalean Extreme to my wife and she loves it too. Then she got Turbofire and made her own hybrid. She's been asking me for months when there will be follow ups to those two programs. Have you heard anything coach?

Amber, Yes CLX would be a great next move. It's always how hard you bring it. The workouts are a little shorter but you can still have great burns and awesome results. At most, if you are still working on losing weight, you might have to adjust your nutrition a bit. Go heavy and hard and CLX won't disappoint!

@MLourdes Totally different programs with different goals/structures. ChaLEAN gives you real lifting with rep ranges that will build muscle. It's the same argument as for P90X over Insanity. You will get better overall body composition changes if you have real weight training over just cardio (or super high reps).

@CoachWayne@IamDisappoint hey coach i dont know if uve been asked this before but i work at el pollo loco and have been on fat shredder for 3 weeks on their chicken breasts and legs.feel great and removing the skin full of fat .am i doing good?thnks